TY - JOUR
T1 - Run4Love, a mHealth (WeChat-based) intervention to improve mental health of people living with HIV
T2 - A randomized controlled trial protocol
AU - Guo, Yan
AU - Hong, Y. Alicia
AU - Qiao, Jiaying
AU - Xu, Zhimeng
AU - Zhang, Hanxi
AU - Zeng, Chengbo
AU - Cai, Weiping
AU - Li, Linghua
AU - Liu, Cong
AU - Li, Yiran
AU - Zhu, Mengting
AU - Harris, Nathan Asher
AU - Yang, Cui
N1 - Funding Information:
This work is supported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71573290) and China Medical Board open competition funding (Grant No.17–271).
Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and China Medical Board (CMB) for financing this study. The views presented in this publication do not represent the official views of NSFC or CMB.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s).
PY - 2018/6/26
Y1 - 2018/6/26
N2 - Background: People living with HIV (PLWH) suffer from high rates of mental illness; but targeted effective interventions are limited, especially in developing countries. High penetration of smartphone usage and widespread acceptance of social media applications provide an unprecedented opportunity for mobile-based health interventions (mHealth interventions) in resource-limited settings like China. The current report describes the design and sample characteristics of the Run4Love randomized controlled trial (RCT) aimed at improving mental health in PLWH in China. Methods: A total of 300 PLWH with elevated depressive symptoms were recruited and randomized into either the intervention or control group. Participants in the intervention group received an adapted cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) course delivered by the enhanced WeChat platform (for 3 months) and were motivated to engage in physical activities. Progress of the participants was automatically tracked and monitored with timely feedback and rewards. The control group received a brochure on nutrition for PLWH in addition to standard care. The outcome assessments are conducted at baseline, 3, 6, and 9 months using tablets. The primary outcome is depressive symptoms measured by the scale of the Center for Epidemiology Studies Depression (CES-D). Secondary outcomes include quality of life, chronic stress measured with biomarker of hair cortisol, and other measures of stress and depression, self-efficacy, coping, HIV-related stigma, physical activity, and patient satisfaction. Mixed effects model with repeated measures (MMRM) will be used to analyze the intervention effects. Discussion: The Run4Love study is among the first efforts to develop and evaluate a multicomponent and integrated mHealth intervention to improve the mental health and quality of life of PLWH. Once proven effective, Run4Love could be scaled up and potentially integrated into the routine case management of PLWH and adapted to other populations with chronic diseases. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry - ChiCTR-IPR-17012606, registered on 07 September 2017.
AB - Background: People living with HIV (PLWH) suffer from high rates of mental illness; but targeted effective interventions are limited, especially in developing countries. High penetration of smartphone usage and widespread acceptance of social media applications provide an unprecedented opportunity for mobile-based health interventions (mHealth interventions) in resource-limited settings like China. The current report describes the design and sample characteristics of the Run4Love randomized controlled trial (RCT) aimed at improving mental health in PLWH in China. Methods: A total of 300 PLWH with elevated depressive symptoms were recruited and randomized into either the intervention or control group. Participants in the intervention group received an adapted cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) course delivered by the enhanced WeChat platform (for 3 months) and were motivated to engage in physical activities. Progress of the participants was automatically tracked and monitored with timely feedback and rewards. The control group received a brochure on nutrition for PLWH in addition to standard care. The outcome assessments are conducted at baseline, 3, 6, and 9 months using tablets. The primary outcome is depressive symptoms measured by the scale of the Center for Epidemiology Studies Depression (CES-D). Secondary outcomes include quality of life, chronic stress measured with biomarker of hair cortisol, and other measures of stress and depression, self-efficacy, coping, HIV-related stigma, physical activity, and patient satisfaction. Mixed effects model with repeated measures (MMRM) will be used to analyze the intervention effects. Discussion: The Run4Love study is among the first efforts to develop and evaluate a multicomponent and integrated mHealth intervention to improve the mental health and quality of life of PLWH. Once proven effective, Run4Love could be scaled up and potentially integrated into the routine case management of PLWH and adapted to other populations with chronic diseases. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry - ChiCTR-IPR-17012606, registered on 07 September 2017.
KW - Depression
KW - Mental health
KW - People living with HIV (PLWH)
KW - Randomized controlled trial
KW - mHealth intervention
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U2 - 10.1186/s12889-018-5693-1
DO - 10.1186/s12889-018-5693-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 29940921
AN - SCOPUS:85049247480
SN - 1471-2458
VL - 18
JO - BMC public health
JF - BMC public health
IS - 1
M1 - 793
ER -